


What We Are

by punkbean



Series: What Are We [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: M/M, This is pure fluff, i have missed them so much, these boys are such romantic saps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-26 22:42:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9927260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkbean/pseuds/punkbean
Summary: It's been a year since the holiday that brought Magnus and Alec together, and they have fallen into the rhythm of living with each other. Are they ready to take the next step in their relationship?





	

Magnus could hardly believe that it had been a whole year since That Holiday. Well, technically more than a year, but a year all the same. 

A year since meeting Alec and getting fired and moving in with Alec and everything that went with that and, honestly, things had turned out far better than Magnus had ever expected.

He had always considered himself to be something of an unlucky person. His childhood was less than ideal, and although he found himself in fairly good circumstances when he arrived in America, things had been far from perfect. 

Because of this, he kept waiting for bad things to happen. If Alec came home from work in a bad mood, if he only sent one-word texts, if he didn’t use any emojis for a full day, Magnus would worry. His mind would jump to the worst scenarios. He had probably upset him somehow, or offended him by saying something mean in his sleep, and Alec was definitely going to break up with him and kick him out. 

It just…never seemed to happen, though. Alec’s mood would improve when he saw Magnus, it would turn out that he was sending one-word texts because he was busy planning a date for that evening, or Jace would have removed the emoji keyboard from his phone and Alec still hadn’t quite figured out how to get it back without help. 

They did have their arguments sometimes, of course, but these were mostly over trivial things, and they never lasted long. The longest to date was probably over how many days in a row Alec managed to wear the same pair of jeans, or maybe just how little restraint Magnus seemed to have when it came to buying new toys for Chairman Meow. 

All details aside, it had been a pretty good year. Magnus knew this, and he knew that he loved Alec, and he knew that Alec loved him. But he was still freaking out just a tad. 

He was currently sitting cross-legged on the floor of their bedroom, next to the heap of shoes that Alec never dared to venture towards. In his hands was a small, black, velvety box. 

A year ago, the thought of marriage had been a very abstract thing to Magnus, something that seemed to be in the very distant future. Now, though, it was very real. And it was kind of staring him directly in the face right now. 

He had owned the ring for almost a month now, but couldn’t seem to find the right moment to actually pop the question. He was determined for it to be perfect. That was the least Alec deserved. 

And tonight would absolutely be the night. They had dinner booked at their favourite restaurant, the weather was just how Alec liked it (chilly but clear, a little bit of wind, what he called ‘perfect weather to hold hands in’ because he was just the sweetest man in the world), and Magnus was actually ready.

He knew what he was going to say, what he was going to wear,  _ and  _ what he was going to do. And it would be perfect. 

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the front door, but he did hear Alec’s footsteps as he approached the bedroom. He threw the ring box back into the pile of shoes and stood up quickly, doing his best impression of someone who wasn’t trying to hide anything. 

“Hello, sweetheart,” he said cheerfully when Alec opened the door. It was actually very easy not to think about the ring. Alec looked very sweet with his cheeks all flushed like that from the cold. 

“What are you doing?” Alec asked, his brow furrowing just a little. 

So maybe Magnus wasn’t acting as natural as he thought. But that was fine. “Just picking out an outfit for tonight! I need to look my best, Alexander.” 

“You always look your best, Magnus Bane,” Alec grumbled, but it definitely wasn’t without affection. He stepped over to kiss Magnus’ lips, then with a rustle of the plastic bags he was carrying, he turned to put the groceries in the kitchen.

* * *

 

Considering that this was potentially going to shape up to be one of the biggest days in their relationship, it passed very uneventfully. Magnus dropped toast crumbs all over the sofa when he tried to kiss Alec and forgot about the plate in his lap, Chairman ate most of them before he could clean them, Alec sat by and laughed at the whole thing.

Magnus laughed at Alec when he left grilled cheese in for too long and it came out resembling a lump of charcoal. Alec tried to feed it to Chairman; Chairman hissed at him. Magnus laughed some more.

They made out, Chairman tried to interrupt, they ignored him. They stopped ignoring him when he started scratching at the sofa instead of the new scratching post they bought him. 

Soon it was getting dark, and they went to get ready for their date. Alec changed into a nicer shirt, then sat on the bed to watch Magnus put his makeup on. 

Alec didn’t always watch him, but he always said that he found it interesting. Magus had found it distracting at first, but now it was sort of comforting to glance in the mirror and see Alec watching him from the bed. When he was done, he turned around with a flourish to grin at him. “Rating?” 

“Eleven out of ten,” Alec said after a moment of deliberation. He stood up and kissed Magnus, being as careful as he could not to smudge anything before it had been set. 

“Only eleven?” Magnus asked, still so close to him that their lips brushed together when he spoke. 

Alec rolled his eyes and poked him between the ribs. “Fine. You look so good that it’s unrateable.” 

“Much better,” Magnus said, far more pleased with that answer. He was far too distracted by Alec and his own thoughts to bother with setting spray, so crouched by his shoe pile instead, pretending to be searching for the perfect pair even though the ones he was wearing were right on top. 

Alec soon announced that he was going to pee so he wouldn’t need to pee when they got to the restaurant, and Magnus was alone in the room. He took his chance and grabbed the ring from the bottom of the pile, shoving it into his jacket pocket. That was the most difficult part of the operation and it went without a hitch. The rest of the night would be a snap!

He pulled his shoes on and stood up, waiting at the bathroom door so that he could kiss Alec as soon as he emerged. It might have taken Alec a fraction of the time to get ready, but he still looked disproportionately attractive. Not fair at all, really. 

The weather was just as predicted, and Alec was making the most of this hand-holding weather by holding Magnus’ hand. He kept running his thumb across Magnus’ knuckles, which he usually only did so frequently when he was nervous. 

“Are you okay, my little tuna roll?” Magnus asked fondly, swinging their hands between them.

Ignoring the nickname, Alec nodded. “Perfect! Why wouldn’t I be?” 

Magnus forced himself not to run through all the possible reasons why he might not be okay. “Just checking. Wouldn’t want you to be worrying.” 

Despite Alec’s assurance, Magnus couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was wrong. Despite that, the date went well: the food was as excellent as always, the service was friendly, and Magnus kept reaching under the table to pinch Alec’s thighs. 

Alec always laughed when he did it, which was exactly why Magnus kept doing it. He almost forgot about the whole ‘proposing’ thing until dessert came. This was when he planned to do it. Before or during dessert. Probably during, so he had more time to prepare. 

Just to be romantic, he reached across the table to take Alec’s hand, lacing their fingers together with a smile. 

The waitress was used to this, and smiled between them as she collected their plates. “Let me guess, you want the waffle with matcha ice cream?” 

“That would be amazing. Thank you,” Magnus purred. He was sure it would be considered flirting if he wasn’t holding Alec’s hand. And if he and Alec didn’t keep looking at each other (as Jace and Izzy described it) ‘Like That’. 

And now he was trying to psych himself up to propose. He had mentally scribbled down a speech earlier, but he couldn’t seem to remember any of it now.    
“Babe. You look like you’re going to throw up. Did you eat too much?” Alec asked. His tone was mostly teasing, but he really did sound a little concerned. 

Magnus had thought he was acting very natural and cool. He smiled and squeezed his hand tight. “I’m just perfect. Wonderful. Amazing. Couldn’t be better when I’m with the man of my dreams,” he agreed. 

Alec laughed quietly, and stared down at their hands for a moment before shifting in his seat. “There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about.” 

Magnus’ blood ran cold. Here it was. Alec was totally breaking up with him. This was it. He could never eat a waffle again, they would always be associated with this horrible day.

When he didn’t reply, Alec immediately started flapping. “Oh my god. That made it sound awful. It’s nothing bad,” he said, but all the words kind of ran into each other. “I just…um, you know how I love you?” 

Magnus could only nod. 

Alec let go of his hand and reached into his pocket, then he was sliding off his chair and…

Onto one knee. 

“Alec. Get up. Sit back in your chair right now,” Magnus said, maybe a bit too loudly. He raised his hand to block the small, dark red box in Alec’s hand from view.

Alec was startled enough that he did it without questioning it, ring box still half-opened in his hand. “Magnus, if you don’t– we don’t have to…” he started trying to say, but he trailed off when Magnus took his place on one knee beside the table.

“I have been planning this for a month and I’m not letting you take this from me,” he said, nerves taken over by determination as he popped the ring box open. 

Alec looked like he was caught somewhere between laughing, crying and falling out of his chair. He sort of settled for the last option, sliding back out of his chair to kneel beside Magnus, opening his own ring box fully. 

“Will you–” Alec started to ask.

“Marry me?” Magnus blurted out before he could finish. To hell with speeches, this was a competition he was going to win. 

“Yes,” they both said at the same time. 

And it took a moment to sink in, but then Magnus realised. They hadn’t been engaged a second ago, but now they were. Alec had proposed to him. And had his proposal very much interrupted by Magnus. 

“We’re engaged,” Alec said, staring at Magnus with something that looked like disbelief on his face. 

“You’re my fiance,” Magnus said cheerfully, leaning over to kiss Alec. Then he remembered that he actually needed to give him the ring, and grabbed his left hand to slide it on. 

Alec stared at it with the goofiest smile on his face. Magnus wanted to kiss him again, but he was preoccupied with watching Alec put the ring on his own finger. 

It wasn’t like one of those scenes in movies where the whole restaurant bursts into applause or anything. Honestly, Magnus was thankful for that. The people at the tables around them kept shooting them little smiles, and the waitress congratulated them when she brought their dessert, but other than that it was entirely Their moment. No interference from any strangers.

There would be plenty of interference later, when they told their friends and family, but for now it was just them and their rings and a free bottle of sparkling wine (maybe strangers interfering wasn’t always so terrible). 

And maybe it rained on the way home, but that was really just an excuse to get their clothes off as soon as they got in. Even if Alec kept stopping to laugh at Magnus’ makeup running all over his face. 

**Author's Note:**

> It's exactly a year today since I finished What Are We and I can't believe it!! It was the first ever big story that I finished, and I've said it before, but I'm in awe of my 2016 self for writing so quickly!! 
> 
> Sorry for my activity being sporadic at best recently, university has gotten a lot more challenging and important, and what's more I don't really have as much motivation to write, but I couldn't let the anniversary of my personal favourite little fic go by without celebrating somehow!! I do need to go back through and correct the many, many typos and spelling mistakes I find whenever I skim it, but that's a job for another day!!
> 
> Thank you so so much for all the feedback you gave me at the time (most of the reason why I was so motivated to post chapters so quickly was because of the people who posted such lovely and thoughtful comments when I posted!!), and thank you so much to everyone who has continued to comment and read (and even reread?!?!) the fic even after a year!!! It really means the world to me, and nothing makes me more motivated to write than hearing all of your lovely words!! (´∀｀)♡
> 
> So once again, thank you for reading the original story, thank you for reading this, I love you all!!! \\(-ㅂ-)/ ♥ ♥ ♥
> 
> EDIT: I totally forgot to mention, that latest episode of Shadowhunters!!!! The world doesn't deserve Magnus Bane, he's too perfect!!! The only one who could possibly deserve him is Alec…;) And I'm not Jace's number one fan, but I could have kissed him when he defended Magnus from Max!! I found the season a bit underwhelming so far apart from Malec, but I'll never be over how incredible Magnus is!!


End file.
